So David Letterman apologized one more time, and boy was it painful.

Now, I know that for some folks, this is a big win. Not for me. Letterman getting cornered over a crass joke means little to me - if only a few segments later, he welcomes a jackass Ph.D. who considers you a "loser" if you do nothing about climate change. So while it might be fun to get Letterman to grovel over a joke, a guest who spews global warming dogma to hearty applause will always piss me off more than slimy slander. Because the latter is taken as a joke; the former isn`t.

More important, I didn't want Letterman to apologize - I just wanted him to say how he screwed up. Letterman repeatedly chose Sarah Palin to make fun of, because no one in his protective, elitist bubble ever assumed she would be a risk. So there were never any limits when it came to her, Bush, or anyone else Letterman considered a right wing dork. And that was Dave`s screw-up. He went too far because - in his lazy, predictable world - he thought there was no such thing.

It would be great for him to admit that. He should say: "I`m not sorry about offending you, I`m just depressed that every night I'm producing worthless wads of no-risk, predictable pap. I made fun of Palin because IT WAS EASY, and that makes me a hack."

I know that`ll never happen, but it`s fun to pretend.